Drug Enforcement Administration

Indictment In Scheme To Smuggle Cocaine Into Canada

FRESNO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging three men with conspiring to distribute cocaine into Canada, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Willams and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, between July 1, 2012 and September 21, 2012, Armitdeep Mann, 32, of Toronto, Canada; Manjot Nanner, 30, of Fresno; and Vincent Rivaz-Felix, 27, of Los Angeles, conspired to smuggle cocaine into Canada by concealing it in legitimate cargo being transported by tractor trailer. On September 21, 2012, Vincent Rivaz-Felix delivered eight kilograms of cocaine to a courier in Los Angeles. Investigators followed Rivaz-Felix to a Los Angeles residence after he made the delivery and then seized another 40 kilograms of cocaine from that residence.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’(ICE) Homeland Security (HSI). Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Rooney is prosecuting the case.

The defendants are scheduled for arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Gary S. Austin on October 5, 2012. The maximum statutory penalty for cocaine trafficking involving five kilograms or more of cocaine is life in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.